EXCLUSIVE Gianluigi Buffon has described Juventus three successive Serie A titles as payback for all the misery the club suffered following the Calciopoli crisis. The Bianconeri were controversially stripped of two Scudetti and demoted to Serie B after being implicated in the infamous scandal in 2006. After losing a number of star players, as well as incurring heavy economic losses, Juventus struggled to recover - finishing seventh in consecutive seasons in 2009-10 and 2010-11. However, following the appointment of Antonio Conte as coach three years ago, the Turin club finally returned to their former glories and a fortnight ago celebrated a third straight Scudetto. These Scudetti feel a bit like payback for everything we’ve had to go through as a club and for me as a player, Buffon told Goal at a launch event for the new PUMA Tricks boot. For the difficult choices that I had to make, ones that complicated my career, that disrupted my career path. Winning these three championships in a row has given me something in return, some happiness and success. The Calciopoli scandal represents one of the bleakest periods in Italian football, and one that has led to years of sporting and civil court cases - as well as an acrimonious rift between rivals Juventus and Inter. Juventus have refused to accept the legitimacy of the original court judgement, acknowledging that they have won 32 Scudetti and not the 30 recognised by the Lega Serie A. Calciopoli deprived me of future successes and it deprived me of two successes from the past, added Buffon. On a professional level, as a player, to have all of that success taken away from you like that, it was devastating. Juventus and Buffon face Cagliari this Sunday in the final round of the Serie A season. A victory will take the Old Lady up to 102 points, which will represent a new all-time seasonal record for a major European league.
Posted on: Fri, 16 May 2014 11:41:16 +0000
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